DES MOINES, IA | Development Thread

[DMRyan]

Des Moines is the state capital and economic hub of Iowa. It has a metro population of 600,000 and a city population of 206,000. The metro has strong financial and biosciences industries that have propped up a very healthy economy, and have helped make the metro one of the fastest growing per capita in the Midwest.

I plan to gradually add information until the thread is current with all the projects that have been announced.





*I am the administrator and co-owner of www.absolutedsm.com. All images that may have a website logo or watermark for this site are property of absolutedsm.com


Downtown New Construction

Downtown Core

Iowa Events Center Convention Hotel
17 story, 450 convention hotel



7th & Grand Redevelopment Site
New hotel, parking ramp, mixed-use residential and retail project





Walnut Street Streetscape
Overhaul of downtown's former prominent retail street





Wellmark YMCA
Renovation of former convention center for new downtown YMCA, major addition for new Olympic-sized pool.




Cowles Commons
Overhauled downtown civic square with interactive fountains and artwork





Court Avenue/South Downtown

4th & Court Avenue Development
New construction of 35,000 sq. ft. downtown grocery store, 60+ apartment units



Hampton Inn & Residence Inn Hotels
Two new hotels located on city's riverwalk



Cityville Apartments
New construction of 288 apartment units



Madison Flats
27 unit apartment building



Brownstones on 7th
34 new rowhome townhome units



Nexus Apartments
145 unit apartment complex with first floor retail



Brownstones on 5th
28 new rowhome townhomes



Holiday Inn Express
100 room limited service hotel




East Village Downtown Neighborhood

201 E. Locust Mixed-Use Project
134 room extended stay hotel, 124 apartments, 7,600 sq. ft. of retail





Marriott AC Hotel
100 room contemporary luxury hotel with rooftop lounge



350 E. Locust Street
21 apartment units, retail, office space



505 E. Grand Commercial Project
New retail and office space project



West End/Western Gateway

Ingersoll Square Phase III
44 apartment units with first floor commercial



Artisan Row Lofts
27 rowhome townhomes






...more to come soon

[llamaorama]

What's going to happen to the spot where the Younkers building burnt to a crisp a month ago or so?

Is there a public skywalk system? I ask because you normally don't see a YMCA attached to one.

[The ATX]

Nice updates, and I'm looking forward to seeing more. I like Des Moines and spent a little time there when I lived in Minnesota.

[DMRyan]

Downtown Renovations & Conversions

Downtown Core

Equitable Building Renovation
Conversion of Insurance office tower into 124 apartments with office and first floor retail





Des Moines Building Renovation
Renovation of historic highrise into 136 apartments with first floor commercial



Photo courtesy of DM Register


Fleming Building Conversion
Renovation and conversion of historic Daniel Burnham designed highrise for 96 apartment units.



Younkers Building Renovation
Conversion of former department store to 120 apartments, first and second floor commercial.





*An unfortunate update, this building was nearly destroyed by fire in March 2014 and will likely be partially demolished for a future project.





Des Moines Social Club
Conversion of former Central Fire Station to new entertainment, arts, and theater project with restaurant and coffee shop



Polk County Courthouse Improvements
Restoration of historic courthouse, renovation of vacant department store and former jailhouse to additional courthouse space








Court Avenue/South Downtown

Randolph Hotel
Renovation of former hotel into 55 apartment units with first floor retail





Ballyard Lofts
Conversion of warehouse building to 44 loft apartments



Rocket Transfer Lofts
Conversion of Rocket Transfer Warehouses to 141 apartments




East Village Downtown Neighborhood


East Village Tower
Renovation of former teacher's retirement home to 103 apartments.



Market One
Renovation of warehouse to sustainable office space





West End/Western Gateway

14Forty Lofts
Renovation of building for 37 apartments with 1st floor commercial




Locust Plaza
Renovation of buildings to high end tenant space







Crane Building Renovation
Conversion of vacant warehouse to 36 apartments for artisans

[DMRyan]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

What's going to happen to the spot where the Younkers building burnt to a crisp a month ago or so?

Is there a public skywalk system? I ask because you normally don't see a YMCA attached to one.

In my latest post above, I included some information about this building. The most damaged east building currently has "selective demolition" underway to remove the pieces that are highly unstable. The developer is attempting to save what he can, but my guess is that the entire east portion of the building will have to be torn down for a new project. The west portion of the building is structurally stable and renovation of this portion of the building will likely resume someday.

[UrbanNebraska]

The new 201 East Locust project is very cool. I have always loved DSM's row house projects, it seems like there are a half dozen in some stage of development perpetually in Des Moines.

[DMRyan]

Plenty has happened since the year and change since I last posted this thread. Sorry for the delay, but below are newly announced projects since the last update.

Downtown Residential/Mixed-Use New Construction

7th and Grand Mixed Use
New developer on board, project now estimated to be between 15-20 stories. 185 apartments, first floor retail.


Eagle View Lofts
120 apartment units




Dwell Apartments
62 apartment units.




The Bridge District Phase I
New urban district. First phase has 123 apartments, 44 rowhomes.




Bici Flats
154 apartment units.


The Edge Apartments
90 apartment units





5Fifty5 Lofts
47 rowhomes




Hy-Vee on Court
This was mentioned before, but underwent a pretty significant design change. New downtown grocery store and 81 apartments.




Downtown Residential/Mixed-Use- Rehab

Clemons Building
Conversion of office building to 44 apartments, ground floor commercial.


Des Moines Register & Tribune
Conversion of former DM Register office building to 164 apartments ground floor commercial.


Harbach Lofts
Conversion of Warehouses to 111 apartments




Station 121
Conversion of warehouse to 30 apartment units.


Elsie Mason Apartments
Renovation to existing senior apartment tower.


Downtown Commercial

Principal Financial Group
$300 million renovation to downtown campus






EMC Insurance Support Center
$25 million annex to existing insurance company offices.




American Republic Insurance
$30 million renovation of insurance offices.




300MLK
Conversion of vacant brewery complex to entertainment destination.




Financial Center Renovation
1970's office building getting renovated, new nighttime lighting scheme.




Gray's Landing Office Building
New construction of 3-story spec office space.


Hotel Fort Des Moines Renovation
$40 million+ renovation of Hotel Fort Des Moines to dual-branded hotel concept.


Civic & Government Projects

Des Moines Arts
Conversion of vacant office building to arts incubator.


Polk County Courthouse
Project mentioned in 2014 update thread, but buildings have a new appearance.




Des Moines Botanical Center Renovation
$14 million overhaul to botanical gardens.

[Tucumanisfuture]

Brother city with my city, nice proyects.

[bluestem99]

Wow, that's 1300 units proposed on top of the projects from your last update. Seems like downtown is going through a transformation!

[DMRyan]

New 160,000 sq ft, $92 million plus corporate headquarters proposed for the Western Gateway neighborhood. The Kum and Go Convenience store chain is moving their offices from the western suburbs to downtown to a building that will house 300+ employees and include underground parking and a usable green rooftop.

Building designed by Renzo Piano Workshop

[Wheelingman04]

Thanks for all of those updates. Des Moines is such a nice city!

[llamaorama]

DM is on fire!

Its a place you never hear about, but all this development is impressive.

[DMRyan]

HUGE news from Des Moines today. New proposal for an $85 million, 32 story, 200 unit apartment tower with 9 screen movie theater, indoor climbing wall, night club and parking lot. If all goes well, construction could start in late 2016. This would be the 5th tallest building in the city (and Iowa) if built.

[Little A]

That's great news! Where would this be in relation to 801 Grand?

[Austinlee]

I'm impressed with the sheer number of modern apartments being built. And it also seems like nearly every significant highrise in downtown is being rehabbed or updated. That's awesome.

[DMRyan]

Little A, this building is quite a distance from 801 Grand, as it sits closer to Court Avenue and the courthouse as shown below.

[DMRyan]

With this proposal, there are now plans for a 32 story building, 19 story building, 11-14 story convention hotel, and there are two key sites that have been rumored to at least mid-rise towers, but no official proposals have been released yet. The last real highrise over 20 stories built in DSM was in 1997, so the city is really due for something taller to get built.

And on the heels of this announcement, another 211 apartment project was announced for downtown, but easily overshadowed by the high rise proposal.

[DMRyan]

A few recent updates for Des Moines:

The 7th and Grand Parking Garage renderings have been released, and the building (including parking garage) is proposed to have 18 stories, 12 stories of apartments, 6 floors of garage, with street level and skywalk level retail space included.








New proposal just south of the AAA ballpark in downtown called Dunham Square. This is a 182 unit apartment project spread among 3 buildings, with plans for an additional mixed use building to be added with a later phase.







The historic Midland Building has been purchased by a developer specializing in historic preservation, with a high likelihood that at least a portion of the building gets converted to residential.

[DMRyan]

Here are plans for a new 6 story, $20 million mixed use building with first level retail in the booming East Village district of downtown. This will add another 100 apartments to the scene.

This will accompany new parking garage on the neighboring block that is supposed to be flanked with a large office and residential project as well, but renderings have not been released for these projects yet.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Didn't know there was a Des Moines thread. Was passing through DSM the other day and noticed there's a lot going on. Any updates on the 32 story tower or 18 story complexes posted above? I noticed at least one tower cranes, are they for either of those projects?